Monday, December 3, 2012

Eggnog Biscuits

Yesterday afternoon we got back from our two-week trip to Italy! It was a crazy and fun time, and we had a lot of delicious food that I'll be talking about in future posts. But today, I have for you these festive biscuits!

Because we got in on a Sunday afternoon, and because our car decided to die while we were gone and left us with no way to get to the store, we had no food this morning for breakfast. Lying awake in the middle of the night thanks to jet lag had me wondering what in the world we would eat, and my mind ran to my favorite I-forgot-to-go-shopping breakfast: biscuits!

Usually I have some Bisquik on hand for such emergencies, but we only have about half a cup left, and I'm trying to phase it out because I don't use it that often and it has all those preservatives that make me skeptical.

A biscuit-from-scratch recipe is pretty easy. But without milk, it'd be useless (well, there's water, but I prefer not to eat things with the excitement of hard tack). Fortunately, my brother in law persuaded us to take a leftover container of eggnog with us after we had dinner with them last night.

I hate eggnog. Sam loves it. Since the eggnog expires today, I was afraid I'd be nursing a Sam sick from an eggnog binge by the end of the day.

This is literally the only thing in our fridge.

THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION TO ALL PROBLEMS IN MY LIFE (I wish): make eggnog biscuits!

So that's just what I did, simultaneously (but temporarily) curbing my appetite for holiday goodness.

3. Cut butter into little chunks. Work into flour mix with your hands (you can also use a pastry cutter if you're timid, but hands always work better). The end result will be a sort of moldable, mealy flour.

4. Add eggnog and stir together (or keep using your hands) until just combined. Dough should be sticky enough to pull away from the bowl. If it's too wet, add a little flour. If it's too dry, add a little more eggnog.

5. If you're making drop biscuits (I always prefer drop biscuits, they have better texture in my opinion), just skip the next step and go straight to step 7.

6. For round biscuits, knead the dough on a floured surface until it's less sticky. Roll out to ~1/4" thickness. Using a round cookie cutter or glass top, cut out biscuits.

7. Place biscuits on greased (or parchment-papered) cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes (mine went for just over 13 minutes and were only ever-so-slightly doughy in the center. But I liked it.

8. Eat while still warm. We tried butter, jam, and honey, and decided the honey was the best topper. But they are also very tasty plain.

Flavor note: if you want a more subtle and less "spiced" taste, omit the cinnamon/nutmeg. They're still very tasty.